My Weakness
by Cypher67
Summary: A new girl arrives in town: she has things to do, people to see and a world to save... and what does she need Jeremy for?   Sorry, I know I suck at summaries  rated T for safety   -Jeremy/OC-
1. Arrival

**My weakness**

_A new girl arrives in town: she has things to do, people to see and a world to save... and what does she need Jeremy for? (Sorry, I know I suck at summaries)_

**AN: This is just something that came to mind. It's been a while since I wrote FF, and it's only my very frst TVD fic. So go easy on me please :p ****  
****Most characters don't belong to me, just borrowing.  
Story is still without my beta, but things will change (so all mistakes are on me... apologies in advance)**

**Enjoy!  
****Reviews are rewarded with cookies (not bribing anyone, though)**

**CHAPTER I: Arrival**

Rain poured down from the sky. People all over the place were rushing to get inside a building or a nearby car. No one paid any attention to a lonely girl with a dark hoody who was trying to get into a taxi.

'Damn you, Americans!' she said to herself. She had only been on American soil for half an hour and already she longed for her home country. No, she should think of it now. She had things to do, people to see, a world to save. Maya didn't have an option. She had to get into a taxi and get the hell to Mystic Falls, where 'an old friend' had summoned her.

Finally a yellow car stopped right in front of her. The soaked young woman got in and gave swift directions, even though she had never even been to the US. Her long dark hair was soaked, as were her jeans. During the ride she kept thinking, thinking about her friend, about the reason why she was asked to come, and about the troubles that were hanging over everyone's head. What had he gotten himself into this time?  
The drive to the town of Mystic Falls took about an hour, and in that time, Maya noticed the scenery change from metropolitan-looking city to quiet and easygoing towns. The weather too had changed. It wasn't raining anymore, and a small ray of sunshine managed to fight its way through the floating clouds. Nature was surrounding her when the driver said they were almost there, and her clothes were almost dry again.

'Where should I drop you off, miss?' he asked politely as they slowly passed the town square.

'Here will be fine, I think.' The car stopped, Maya paid the man and she got out of the car.  
The Mystic Falls town square had something welcoming and cozy. Maybe coming here wouldn't be a bad thing after all. Well, not _all bad_, hopefully. She sat down on a wooden bench under an oak tree and took out her notebook. The people that walked by, all nodded to her, as to recognize she was there and to say hello. Kind people, she thought.

At first, Maya was writing down things she noticed about the town. Like the fact that the apparently local bar was really easy to reach, and very difficult to secure. The square was relatively big for such a small town, but perfect for gatherings. Again, it was hard to keep safe.  
Her notes were changing. The words started to form small figures, and eventually, Maya was drawing her way through the town. She had her eyes closed, but she still managed to make a map of the town, completely with all the roads and major buildings. According to what she had found out, the school would be the best place it things came down to a fight, but the bar did have its advantages as well.

'Hi…' a voice interrupted her strategic thoughts. Her blue eyes caught the a pair of bambi brown ones. 'I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?' he asked. The boy, or man… she couldn't decide yet, was wearing a dark leather jacket and a V-neck shirt, and that was most definitely a very familiar style.

'Do you really know every single residents of Mystic Falls?' she asked before she could stop herself.

'No, but… I mean… Whatever.' He started stuttering. Maya grinned. She loved annoying people, that was another thing that is His fault…

'Hey, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be nasty. Yes, I'm new here.' She smiled, putting her notebook away.

'Oh, well, I'm Jeremy. Jeremy Gilbert.' He introduced himself with quite a dashing smile.

'Hi Jeremy. I'm Maya.' Now what were her instructions again? '_Get to the Gilbert House at 3pm'_

'Gilbert… That name does sound a bit familiar.' Maya tried to get more intell, without it being obvious.

'We're one of the founding families. Together with the Lockwoods, Forbes' and the Salvatores.' He stated. That last name got her attention.

'Are they all still here?'

'Yes, descendants of all families never moved away. You seem awfully interested in the local history.' He noticed. Jeremy came to sit next to her, still smiling.

He was just a pawn. She needed to get to his house, that's her assignment. Why? She didn't have a clue.

'There you are, Jer!' she heard a woman's voice say. Her eyes followed the direction of the sound, and they ended with a beautiful young woman with long dark hair, not unlike her own.

'Oh, hi Elena. This is Maya, she's new here.'

'Hi! I'm Elena, Jeremy's sister.' She smiled. See, the people in this town were all kind. Definitely worth a save.

'Jer, we have to get home. Jenna called.' Elena said. The boy nodded and looked at his new friend.

'Oh, sorry Maya. Would you like to come with us for dinner? It seems like you don't know many people here.'

'You might be right. My family is still in my home town, and I don't really know anyone here, except for you two. SO yeah, I'd really like that.' Maya used her prettiest smile to show how happy she was. Up until now, she had only had good luck. Hopefully that wouldn't change...


	2. Aquaintance

**CHAPTER II**

On her way to the Gilbert residence, Maya learned that the Gilbert siblings were orphaned, and that they now lived with their aunt Jenna. Apparently, Elena was dating high school hunk Stefan, something Jeremy pointed out with a smile on his face. For the younger of the two, things in the love department were a bit more quiet. At least, that's what they told Maya.

'Jenna, we're home, and we have a guest with us!' Elena yelled after they had entered the house. No response.

'Maybe she isn't home yet.' Jeremy suggested. Elena had a worried look on her face. She started running around the place, looking for her aunt.

'Elena, she left a note. She's fine. Ric invited her for dinner just after she called us, but she couldn't reach us anymore. Guess she's fine.' He smirked. Elena rolled her eyes to him.

'I'm going to get changed.' Jeremy said, walking out of the kitchen, leaving the two girls to themselves. Elena realized she didn't know anything about the new girl. She had just invited a stranger into her house. Stefan would probably give her another lecture for being so careless. But she had to admit, it probably wasn't the smartest move to make. Maya could be an angry vampire working for Katerine.

'So, Maya, where are you from? You don't sound local.' Elena decided it was time to check it out. She poured two cups of tea, lacing both of them with vervain.

'You're right. I'm from Europe. I've lived there all my life with my family. One of my best friends decided to come here, and now I'm paying him a visit.' The girl smiled. Elena gave her the cup, and Maya drank it without flinching.

'Oh this is good!' she said. Elena smiled. Vampire crisis averted. Things lightened up a bit. The Gilbert girl didn't have to worry as much anymore. An hour later, she started making dinner, and Maya happily suggested to help her. The two of them were chatting and laughing as if they had known each other for ever.

'So how did you and Stefan met?' Maya asked interested. Elena was happy to tell the story about how they met and how they fell in love. Of course, she forgot to mention her boyfriend was a vampire of over a 100 years old.

'Yeah, it hasn't been easy on us, especially with his brother around. Seriously, Maya, if you meet him, just be careful.' Elena gave the advice she couldn't even stick to herself.

'I'll do my best.' Maya winked.  
Jeremy came back down, his hair still wet from the shower he took. Grinning stupidly, he stole a carrot from his sister and sat between the two girls.

'So, what have you been talking about?' he asked curious.

'Well, that would be… none of your business.' Elena said, tilting her head with her eyes fixed on the blade in her hand. A smile played around her lips.

'Oh, Stefan…' Jeremy whispered. He looked at Maya and winked. _Boy wants to play_, she thought smiling.

'So, Jeremy, you're what, like… 13?' she joked with the most serious face. Jeremy looked shocked and threw a mini tomato to the back of Maya's head. Before the vegetable could hit her, she turned around and caught it in her left hand, leaving the Gilbert boy even more baffled than seconds earlier.

'How the hell did you do that?' Jeremy blurted out, his mouth open and eyes wide with amazement. Elena had a similar expression on her face, but she kept quiet. Apparently this wasn't something new to the other dark haired girl. Maya just stood there, grinning to her newly found friends.

'Yeah… well… I don't really know how to tell you this. You kind of caught me off guard.' Maya tried to stall, figuring out a way how to dodge the awkward but practically unavoidable questions that hung over her head.

'Off guard? You caught that tomato even without knowing it was headed your way.' Jeremy wasn't that easily distracted… sadly. Maybe she should get something shiny and give it to him.

'Let's just say I got swift reflexes.' Maya tried to end the subject and attempted to keep the atmosphere light, but the Gilberts kept looking at her as asking for an explanation. Stubborn people! They always want to know more than is healthy for them. They weren't letting go of it even if it would come around and bite them in the backside.

'You're not letting it go even if it will come around and bite you in the backside, are you?'

'Nope. We're not.' Jeremy smiled, obviously the guy was sure he had won the battle. Elena had taken a seat on one of the barstools at the counter. She looked at the vegetable, then turned her blue eyes on the other girl in the room.

'You are not completely human.' she simply stated, completely calm, totally in control of the situation and not at all afraid of things she didn't understand. Well, maybe she did understand, but that wasn't the matter.

Slowly, Maya shook her head.

'But you can't be a vampire either.' Elena continued. Again, Maya shook her head.

'I'm a witch.' It was clear that these two people knew a lot about the supernatural, and it was only a matter of time before they would find out anyway.

'Good witch or bad witch?' Jeremy asked now. Maya was a bit surprised by this question, but she couldn't blame him. Apparently his older sister wasn't the only one familiar with all things unhuman.

'Good witch. I'm here to help. A friend called for me. He said this town was in danger again.' She explained.

Maybe we should take her to the boarding house. If Mystic Falls is in danger, they need to know.' Jeremy suggested to his sister, who nodded. Immediately, Elena got out her phone and speed-dialed a number. She went to the other room to talk, leaving her brother and Maya alone.

'What kind of trouble are we in?' Jeremy asked calmly after his sister couldn't hear them anymore. Maya looked at his face. It was serious, so were his eyes. Even though he couldn't be older than her, his eyes told her that he had been through a lot.

'I don't know, Jeremy. I honestly don't know. But I'm here to find that out, and to help. What is that boarding house you mentioned earlier?'

'That's the place some friends of ours live in. I think we'll be going there in a few.' Jeremy said, his eyes piercing hers.  
His eyes really were beautiful. They were dark chocolate brown, with a few golden sparks in them. For the normal, human eye, these sparks would be really hard to notice, but for Maya, they were obvious.

'What else can you do?' he suddenly asked, interrupting her staring at him.

'Well… if I tell you that, I'll have to kill you.' She grinned.  
At that moment, Elena walked back in.

'If you want to, we could take you along. Stefan will probably know what to do. And if not, he can at least help.' She said. Maya nodded and Jeremy left to get his bag.

Although Maya had never been to Mystic Falls before, she knew exactly where they'd be going. The boarding house was a big, red bricked place with double drive way. It was located a bit away from the road. The estate had many windows, some of them smaller than others. The house had something fancy over it, like a power that had rested there for many years.

Jeremy and Elena made their way up the driveway and rang the doorbell. Maya was a bit behind, admiring what she saw. So that must be the place where he lives. Where he lived before. He sure loved the sunlight..

The door opened with a creak and a young blonde woman was behind it.

'Dammit, I was meant to get that fixed. Hi guys, come on in. The boys will be back soon. They are… hunting.' The blonde one added as soon as she laid eyes on Maya.

'It's okay, Care,' Jeremy smiled, 'She's with us, and she knows.'  
Blondie, the one Jeremy referred to as _Care_, reluctantly let her through the door, as if she were protecting a big secret. Okay, she might have been doing just that, but she didn't know Maya knew it already.

'Don't worry, I won't blab.' She tried to reassure the seemingly still young vampire.

'Oh, so you do know. That's just great! Stefan keeps lecturing me about the fact that I absolutely can't tell a living soul, and here you guys go! Just print it in the papers.' Maya had to laugh at this honest outburst.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh,' she apologized. 'I'm Maya. Yes, I know you're a vampire. But no, you're friends didn't tell anything. They didn't need to.' Maya tried to be as friendly as possible, noticing that the vampire needed to be reassured.

'She's a witch, Caroline.' Elena stated, unpacking Jeremy's bag which was loaded with wooden weapons.

'Oh, in that case. Sorry I freaked out a bit… I'm Caroline by the way. It's nice to have another witch on the team!' she laughed. Caroline seemed nice. Maybe a bit hyperactive and talkative, but certainly nice.

There wasn't anything they could do before the boys got back, or that's what Caroline said. She had poured them all some drinks and was walking through the library.  
Maya herself was wandering around, admiring the inside of the great estate, including the weapon collection. The residents of this place had a great amount of books at their disposal, which would certainly come in handy when they are hunting the supernatural.  
Maya walked over to the arms table and took a sharp dagger in her hands.

'Pure silver, at least according to Mr. Saltzman.' Jeremy said when he came standing next to her.

'Lethal when used correctly. Do you know how to fight?'

'Yeah. Well, not really. I know how to use the crossbow stakes.' Jeremy looked at her sheepishly.

She shifted the dagger through her fingers, balancing it on the palm of her hand, and juggling it around.

Faster than the human eye can register, one of the terrace doors waved open and a figure flew in to come to a halt centimeters behind Maya, who took the dagger firmly in her right hand and pointed it to the favourite body part of the person behind her.

'Hello Damon. Nice to smell you again.'


	3. Intelligence

Alright! I finally found the time to update the story.  
First of all: thank you so much to all the great replies! I love that you love, and it makes me write more!  
Secondly: this one hasn't really turned out the way I hoped it would, but I'm relatively satisfied.  
(I really should have been making lesson preparation forms instead of writing... but hey... couldn't help myself)

I still don't own TVD or any characters, things would be different if I would.

Enjoy,  
R&R please

**CHAPTER III: Intelligence**

'Hello Damon, nice to smell you again.' Maya said with a smirk on her face and the knife pointed at Damon's favourite body parts.

'Maya...' Damon had tilted his head and his eyes rested on the knife. 'would you please point that thing somewhere else?' he asked, not really happy.

Maya winked at Jeremy, all too glad with the way things were going.

'Maybe I will, but what will I get in return?' she asked curiously, but the look in her eyes told that she already knew the answer to her own question.

'You'll get what you deserve, after all these years.' Damon said on his own Damon-y way. Maya shrugged her shoulders and juggled the knife back onto the table. In one fluent motion, she turned around, directly into Damon's widespread arms.

'I've missed you! Where have you been?' she asked, finally contented. Elena looked totally astonished. Damon hugged the young woman as if he was a long lost love.

'I've been… around. Don't even think I haven't checked up on you.' He answered, still hugging her, stroking her hair.

'Please, enlighten us, Damon. You're showing emotions that don't contain anger, hate or sarcasm. Please, tell us more.' Caroline marked with her custom smile. Damon's eyes told her to shut it, but Caroline didn't agree with that. She put on her most innocent face (as innocent as possible, considering she's a vampire) and said:  
'What? I was only saying what everyone in the room was thinking.'  
Elena just looked at Damon. Caroline kept staring, and Jeremy nodded at the comment the blonde vampire had made.  
At that time, Stefan glided in and took in the scene.

'Damon...' he said.

'Yeah yeah, hold your horses. Curious, are we?'

'Damon, we are women. Jer is a teenager and Stefan is… well, Stefan. Yes, we are curious.' Caroline stated.

'This is Maya. We go way back.'

'Yeah we do, he changed my diapers, back when I still needed them. So, way, way back.' Any chance she got, Maya taunted Damon. It was a part of her life. Damon had always been there for her, for as long as she could remember, and seeing him again made her happier than she had been in a long time.

'Why did you need to tell that? If I'm going to listen to that version, I need a drink. Or a few.' The oldest vampire in the room walked to the bar, poured himself a double shot of bourbon and displayed himself on one of the antique sofas in the room. The others followed this example, all without the alcohol.

'So,' Maya started to tell, ' I've known Damon all my life. He was there when I was born, he was there when my mum died. And he was there when my dad would go ballistic. My father didn't trust anyone near me, except for him. He helped me when my powers developed, since my dad wasn't fit anymore.' When she looked around with sadness in her eyes, she saw the surprised looks on faces all around. Maya turned her head to Damon, who sat next to her.

'I know it might come as a surprise, but I do have a heart, and although it doesn't beat anymore, it still works. Sort of.' He said. Maya continued.

'He had always been around, and after my mother passed away, he made sure to look over me. I've always known that I'm a witch, but my powers developed, and without mum I didn't know what to do with it. He did.'

'How come I've never heard of you?' Stefan asked, baffled by this discovery. Damon had always been big on keeping secrets, something with trust issues, and a bad past.

'Probably because he wants to uphold his reputation of supernatural king of jerks, and that's impossible once the world knows he used to take care of a little girl.' Maya laughed at the youngest Salvatore brother. Damon had always told stories about his little brother. Damon had made it clear that there was something in his past he just couldn't forgive Stefan, but despite everything, they were still brothers, and he'd do everything for him, even though Damon would never ever admit that out loud. So Maya kept that information to herself.

'Okay, end of story, no more trips down memory lane. We have some people to save, as it seems.'

'Right! What's the threat this time? Kat is back? More Elijah rambling around? What is it now?' Jeremy asked.

'Well… you might not know it, because the sheriff and the council have been trying to hide it, but there have been some disturbing killings lately.' Damon said, his face back to utter seriousness.

'We've been feeding from the blood bank…' Stefan interjected, ('_and Bambi_.' Damon added under his non-existing breath) 'and the people weren't killed by wolves, so we can rule out any rogue werewolves.

'All of the victims showed similar bite marks on their neck and the inside of both wrists.' Caroline added. Baby vamp was in on the story as well. Thumbs up for Damon goes teamwork, that's something Maya hadn't heard before.

'Had they been drained?' Elena didn't seem too happy with this observation. Both Stefan and Damon nodded.

'They have, but there was something strange about it: although all of them lost every single drop of blood in their body, the vampire responsible for the murders didn't drink it. He just let it spill.' Stefan said, his eyes looked in the direction of Elena, but they didn't really see her. That much was clear to Maya. She didn't really need her witchy senses to realize something was off in the human-vampire relationship those two were in.

'And what kind of a vampire lets blood just run away?' Damon was trying to understand, but he couldn't.

'Why didn't you just tell us from the start?' Elena asked, looking from Damon to Stefan and back. _Oh dear… I sense some love triangle thing…_ Maya thought to herself. It was Damon who answered the girls question. His eyes said 'To keep you safe.' But his mouth said 'Because you don't have to know everything .'

'If the town and the people in it are in danger, then I should know.' Elena replied.

'Sure, whatever.' Damon rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink.

'Do we have any idea who is behind all this? Or do we still need to figure that out?' Jeremy asked. Maya looked at him again. He was seriously interested in catching the bad guy, even though he was still young, definitely not older than she was.

'I've put Rose onto this. She has been very helpful. She has been poking around for the last few weeks, and according to her and some very reliable sources, we're dealing with an Original. Again.' Damon nor Stefan seemed pleased with this discovery, and even Maya knew Originals meant big trouble.

'You've dealt with an Original before?' she asked surprised. People around her nodded, but it was Jeremy who did the talking.

'Yeah, we have. He wanted to kill Elena in order to break the curse of the sun and the moon. AS you can see, he failed.'

'So you killed him?' she asked, just to check. Again there were nods sent to her direction.

'But then you can do it again.' To Maya, this seemed straightforward. They just had to do whatever it was they had done before.

'We wish it were that simple, but it isn't.' Stefan noted, looking at the red with olden carpet that lay in the middle of the room. He took his time to adjust his words in his mind, and when he spoke, things became clear.

'This particular Original is some kind of an Outlaw. Even among his own he was feared. He gained power over the centuries, but somewhere in the 8th century, all records of him just stopped. It was as If he had vanished from this earth. But he kept going, bringing destruction wherever he went.'

'Have any of you ever heard of Croatoan?' Stefan asked.

'Seems like we all slept through history class.' Caroline smiled.

'I do remember something about that word… wasn't that about two brothers in an awesome care, and they got to a village where… oh wait… No, that's last week's episode of Supernatural.' Jeremy grinned apologetically and rubbed the back of his head, looking all kinds of cute, Maya thought.

_Focus, Outlaw Original. Should be stopped rather sooner than later._

'Croatoan tells the story of the first British colony on American soil, called Roanoake. The first colonists settled here, leaving a few soldiers in the village to continue building, while the ship returned home for supplies. When they came back, all was abandoned. The soldiers were just gone. Still, the people that arrived with the second ship settled in Roanoake, living there and starting anew. When the founder of the village had to go back to England, again for new supplies, he stayed away for longer than he had thought, because of the attack from the Spanish Armada during the reign of Elizabeth I. When he finally returned, all the people had just vanished into thin air. They couldn't find any trace of them, and it didn't seem like there had been a struggle. The only thing they could find, was one word, carved in a tree: Croatoan.' A voice at the door said.

'Ah, Ric, my man!' Damon smirked. 'Maya, this is Alaric Saltzman, Ric for the friends, he's Mystic Fall's history teacher and walking encyclopedia by day, and Vampire Hunter by night!' Damon smirked.

'Dude, what is this, companion-palooza?' Maya asked, seemingly uncomfortable.

'What ever happened to laying low and telling no one what we really are.'

'It grew old. And _dude?_ Really, _dude_?' Damon simply said, raising one eyebrow. Maya rolled her eyes at him. Jeremy snickered, causing all eyes to be directed at him.

'Sorry,' he started, 'it's just.. nothing. Never mind. Forget I exist here.' Maya smiled at him. He'd definitely be fun to hang around.

'So we know _who_ we need to be afraid of, but do we also know _why _we need to be afraid of him? And what's his name anyway?

'His name is William… Something.' Caroline said suddenly, going through some papers.

'And he is looking for something called The Prior.' Jeremy added. Maya closed her eyes and started thinking. And old, probably pissed off vampire dude was after the Prior, which should be in Mystic Falls. Serious trouble.

'What is this Prior thing? What does it do and why does he need it?' Jeremy asked now.

'That's just it; we don't know. We have no idea what it is, where it is or what it's for. Jeremy should do his homework a bit better.' Damon stated.

Jeremy didn't say anything, he just shook his head and averted his eyes to the new girl.

'Maya? Maya, what's wrong?' he asked immediately. Now, all eyes were directed at her.

Maya's body tensed up. She had closed her eyes, her arms hanging next to her body. Her breathing became shallow. First her head bowed forward, but suddenly it jerked backwards, and everything was out of her control.


End file.
